Feb. 27, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - Four Old Dominion senior starters, playing their last regular season game at the Ted Constant Center Sunday, combined for 49 points to push the Lady Monarchs past Delaware, 70-61. The win gives ODU the 29th 20-win season in program history.
Old Dominion (20-8, 14-3 CAA), which is tied for second in the Colonial Athletic Association standings with UNC Wilmington, sits just one game behind James Madison for first-place. The Seahawks travel to Harrisonburg to take on the Dukes Wednesday at 7 p.m., while the Lady Monarchs wrap up the 2010-11 regular season at Drexel that same time.
Junior Tia Lewis notched her eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior Alena Voronina led all Lady Monarchs with 15 points, while classmates Kquanise Byrd scored 13 and Jasmine Parker chipped in 12.
For the second time this season, ODU tied a school record by going 15-of-16 from the free throw line. Parker made all six of her attempts, while Voronina was perfect on her three tries.
Delaware (16-12, 9-8 CAA) was led by sophomore All-American Elena Delle Donne's 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting. Sophomore guard Lauren Carra tallied 16 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds for the Blue Hens.
The Lady Monarchs committed a season-low 12 turnovers, while holding dominate edges in both points in the paint (44-26) and fast break points (14-2). Old Dominion, which has won six straight at home, ends the year 13-2 at the Ted Constant Center.
The Lady Monarchs, who finished the first half on a 10-2 run, led by as many as 19 in the second half. A late Delaware push cut the ODU lead to seven with 1:40 to play, but Voronina hit a pair of free throws and UD missed its final three shots to end the game.
Delle Donne, who came into Sunday averaging 24.8 points per game, scored 10 points in the final five minutes, but it proved to not be enough.
A crowd of 3,012 gave the four ODU seniors - Voronina, Parker, Shadasia Green and Byrd - a standing ovation during the pregame ceremony honoring their accomplishments.
-ODU-